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Power Cord Shielding

There has been tons of discussions regarding power cords. For me, shielding is the most important factor.
Thus preventing AC noise emitting from the power cable which may interfere with the signals of other cabling in your system.

I have had some fairly expensive cables from the likes of Black Sand and Cullen, that when I ran a handheld AC voltage detector along its length, whilst plugged in, the line detector would light up. As for cables like Pangea and even some stock, manufacturer’s cables (Coda, Wyred 4 Sound) I get no readings from the voltage detector.

That said, I’m surprised to see how many amps have the IEC connection on the far right or for left on their units, right beside the speaker binding posts. I think in the middle of the amp, as far away from any connections would be best. Such as the Luxman 505uXII or the Coda CSiB.

What are our thoughts?




high-amp

Showing 5 responses by holmz

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 
The guy at the stereo shop said that I want the power cord to be shielded.
They had the “ifi” brand and some active capacitor looking cans that plug into the sockets. 
holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 
  • When you turn it up all the way do you hear 60 Hz humming noises?
  • Or some harmonic of 60 Hz?
  • Or what is the frequency of the noise on the AC line that needs to be addressed with the shielding?
  • Are you concerned with voltage leaking out or magnetic fields?

A few preamps have outboard power supplies and these feed DC to the main part of the preamp. But power amps, do not have the gain of a preamp.
holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 
Oldhvymec brought up weaves and routing.

When the current is high like a power amp, then the magnetic fields are high, and his suggestions are sage.

And it is hard to shield against magnetic fields.
holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 
Thanks gentlemen. At this point, I think I'm just gonna toss the out the voltmeter!

I agree.

Or donate to some young person getting into the field?
holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 
It’s not the only thing. The late Charles Hanson once said that the power amplifier is basically a modulator of the power supply. In that sense, the power cable is like a speaker cable in term of how current is carried from the source to the speaker. Of course it's not just the power amp. The preamp, DAC, or CDP are all the same in term of driving a signal.

I have a set of power cable that is shielded, but the bass is somewhat slow, so shielding could be a double-edged sword.

If the speaker cables were high inductance then it could “slow things down”. But high frequencies should be worse than bass… and “slow” probably would be phase shift?
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